Gather not my soul with sinners,
Nor my life with men of blood,
In whose hands is wickedness,
And their right hand is full of bribes.
He prays that his soul will not be ‘snatched away' and his life taken from him. Premature death is the lot of men of violence, and men who propagate violence, those whose ways are wicked, who constantly use underhand methods to get their way. It may be that a pestilence was raging, which would explain why he felt that some of the evil-doers might in the near future reap their deserts, and from which he himself was anticipating protection because he was under YHWH's eye.
‘In whose hands is wickedness,' They were guilty of corruption and defrauding the people, and if it seemed as though they might be caught they prevented it by the payment of bribes.